Now Showing - my coin photography

coppercoins

I remember saying at some point earlier in the week that I would get around to uploading and showing off some of the photography I have been able to achieve with the help of a few really nice coins...so here are the links..

Really nice 1876CC quarter
1892 quarter
A pretty nice 1908D quarter
1916D quarter
1836 reeded edge half - very nice
Decent 1853 arrows and rays half
Another 1853 arrows and rays half. old cleaning
1858-O half - decent coin
A beautiful Illinois commem.
Superb GEM 1915D half
Superb GEM 2X4 Missouri (Sedalia) commem
ANACS MS63RD 1909VDB doubled die Lincoln
ANACS MS64RD 1909VDB doubled die cent (die#2)
Decent 1879-O Morgan dollar
PCGS MS65 1899-O Morgan dollar
1889-O Morgan dollar with some peripheral toning
NCG MS65 1883-O Morgan dollar
PCGS MS64 1900-O/CC Morgan dollar
ANACS MS62 1882-O/S Morgan dollar with beautiful toning!
PCGS MS65 1903-O Morgan dollar
NGC MS65PL 1904-O Morgan dollar

That should be enough to give the general idea. It is important to remember that all of these are reduced versions of extremely large files of digital photo compositions that were intended for print, so some of them may be a bit blurry. Have fun with them!

FC57Coins

Copper:

Very nice shots - can you share a little about the lighting and setup you used to get these shots?

Thanks

Frank

coppercoins

Thanks for the compliment.

The camera used in all of these photos was a Sony Mavica FD-88 with the 1280 pixel setting, macro on, from about six inches. Exposure was set to normal, and white balance was turned to "indoor".

The vast majority of these coins were photographed using a couple of small clip-on style reading lights with the name brand "Mighty Bright", strategically positioned to get the best results. Often the lamps were positioned facing one another just barely offset from the surface of the coin and the shot was taken between the lamps for the best reflective results. Translucent white paper sack cutouts were taped to the front of the light hoods to diffuse the light. The problem with these little lamps was that the photos often came out with too much yellow in them, and had to be edited for color in the computer. This was before the discovery of the GE Reveal bulbs. Once I discovered the Reveal bulbs, I went with a 70 watt in a swing arm lamp with white bond paper covering the bulb to diffuse the light. I found that the color comes out much truer with this set-up, so I have permanently retired the Mighty Bright lamps.

The most important detail regarding the previous paragraph is the "shield" of white translucent material used to diffuse the light. Any case where you are taking coin photos with the bulb light directly hitting the coin will ultimately result in a photo with "flash burn" from the pinpointed effect of the bulb reflecting directly off the coin's surface. The diffusion shield (sounds like a sci-fi movie) will prevent this flash burn.

The slabbed coins were photographed with the same technique. The important thing about the slab photos is to have the coin and light positioned for alight reflective photo, but to ensure the reflection off the slab plastic is completely even. Using Photoshop, the reflection of the light shield can be edited out (using image>adjust>levels), resulting in a pretty clean photo of the coin. If you are using Photoshop or a photo editor with similar tools, DO NOT be discouraged at the raw image you get out of the camera. The level adjustment will prove to provide good results.

DanC

Very... VERY nice work!

Excellent.

coppercoins

Thanks Dan...the customers were pleased as well, at least that's what they told me. At one time I thought about gathering a large collection of coin images, but with other obligations getting in the way I had to can that idea. I do still photo and keep photos of any higher end stuff I get a chance to look at.

Askari

Excellent work, Coppercoins!! I'm curious: How "true" did the colors on the toned coins come to the original? Ditto the coppers?

coppercoins

Typically the coins (especially the coppers) would come out a bit yellow using any sort of natural white incandescant bulb....the typical kind, that is. Photoshop would take care of that problem. The Reveal bulbs alleviate that problem. The last few photos (Morgan dollars) were taken, for the most part, with the Reveal bulbs. The toned one (1882-O/S) actually came out revealing more colors than I had noticed on the coin. When I went back to the coin as a reference for the photo, I saw the colors I had not previosly seen. In this case, "reveal," was exacty what the bulb did. I am very pleased with my success using this bulb.

Askari

I'd heard great things about Reveal and have them in my viewing lamp, so I'm pleased to hear they do equally well for photography. So the Photoshop results are "true-to-life"?

Also, you might consider posting some shots of your set-up as a guide to more Coppercoins wannabes.

coppercoins

As for the specifics of whether the results are completely "true to life", not exactly. Some color editing comes into play, as do some brightness and contrast editing to make the shot show better on-screen and in print....results vary for each. Any photo is a mere image of something. At times the image must be adjusted somewhat to help it look more like the item photographed. That's the case with many of my digital photos. Getting the lighting to show the details intended is the real trick, the color is easy to adjust a little for a truer result.

As a side/foot note, I do not like side lit photos - I think they miss a lot of the surface color and texture, and usually fail to show the details of the coin very well. Given that, there is a tendancy to have trouble with flash burn from lighting on reflectively lit photos. NONE of the professional numismatography you see in publications are side lit photos - including magazines, books, and auction catalogs. They are all reflective light photos. The key is to tone the light down, but this always - ALWAYS - presents minor problems with color, key word being "minor." All of the minor color disputed between the camera and the subject can be cleared up with good software, and that's what Photoshop is.

BSqr

Very nice work.

Askari

Do you use the "general" version of Photoshop or the "specialist" one?

coppercoins

I'm guessing you're asking whether I am using the full version of Photoshop or the "LE" version? I am using the full version. I was using 4.0, then about a year ago I moved to 5.0, and last week moved to 7.0

coppercoins

I forgot to mention before that I will soon be writing a couple of documents regarding the dos and don'ts of photographing coins on coppercoins. When I get it done, I will post a link here. Within that page I will show the set-up used, the camera used, and many of the different things I have seen over the years that people do and get less than satisfactory results...then I will show what I do (including screen shots of Photoshop) from the beginning of a "raw" photo through to the finished product. Publication date will probably be around the first of next month.

KAJ1

Nice pics.
Very nice coins.

Kevin

Gemini

It sure beats looking at candy canes all day long...

Askari

Thanks, CD!! I'll be looking forward to it!!

supercoin

Very nice!

Does your camera have a "white balance" setting? With mine, you stick a pure white card in the viewfinder, and hit a button to calibrate it. The camera then electronically adjusts to compensate for the light source if it's not perfectly white. Then no post-processing of the color is needed.